You can buy an older used refrigerator and a external temperature controller. That will allow you to maintain temperatures cooler than the room's temp. I bought a old Kenmore fridge a dozen years ago for $150 and it works like a charm with the manual external temp controller.
Was the extract container swollen or damaged? Did you boil the extract with your brew water? If so, then it's not likely an infection. I wouldn't worry too much about the hops residue, assuming that's what it is.
A two-week ferment does seem like a long time. What was the original gravity...
Thanks, golddiggie and crew, for providing the mead advice and pointing us noobs to the gotmead website. It's been a great help in starting me out with turning honey into something more divine.
Another one for the engineer category, although only as far as school training (BS is civil and MS in engineering management). I spend my days in the contracting field with the federal government.